A young bantam vanished last night at dusk. She was trying to roost on her own at the top of a tree in my garden. I couldn't find her when I waited half an hour for it to get darker to pick her up. There was no alarm sound of any sort. I wonder if perhaps an owl picked her up or how she could have vanished? It couldn't have been a fox as the garden is secure.

Owls swallow their prey whole so anything bigger than a large mouse would be beyond them. Our neighbour who has a big barn that the hens sleep in, used to have a Barn Owl go in and sit in the rafters, and after a bit of panic initially when it swooped after a mouse, they all got along fine. Sparrowhawks especially a female would take a bantam, as would Peregrines or Buzzards. if you have these birds where you live